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Saturday, August 2, 2008

Typhon is the final son of Gaia and is the god of wind. He was fathered by Tartarus. In another version he was born out of Hera in Delphi. Typhon's aim is to replace Zeus as supreme deity. Typhon was described as the most largest and grotesque of all the creatures. He had hundred heads and serpent tails. He was defeated by Zeus and placed Mount Etna over his body.

Typhon was described in more detail by Hesiod. He described him as a grisly monster with hundred serpent heads, dark flickering tongues, fiery eyes, and a hundred serpent tails.

He was whelped in a cave in Cilicia and confined in the land of Arimi. It is also where Zeus overcame him. The battle was not an easy one, Zeus was temporary blinded and confined to a cave. The titanic struggle created earthquakes and tsunamis. Finally Typhon was overcome by the thunderbolts of Zeus. Then he was thrown into Tarturus or as many believe was crushed by Mount Etna and confined beneath it. He also leaded the Titans, when they were send to kill Dionysus.

Thus he is the deity of Volcanoes as Hephaestus who is the civilised god.

He has fathered many children with Echidna, like Cerberus, Lernean Hydra, Nemean Lion, Chimera, Ladon, Sphinx and Orthus.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Ladon was a serpent like dragon that coiled on one of the trees in the garden of Hesperides and guarded the golden apples. It was slain by Heracles as the picture shows.

Ladon was given several parentages. He was considered as the child of Ceto and Phorcys , Typhon and Echidna, or of Gaia. It was also considered as a multi headed dragon

Heracles in his labor to retrieve the golden apples in the garden of Hesperides wanted the help of the Titan Atlas. Atlas agreed to help only if Heracles get rid of his burden of bearing the Heavans and Ladon. Ladon was killed by Heracles with an arrow over the Garden walls.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

This is a picture of Calydonian Boar being killed in the Calydonian Hunt. It was another beast that had to be overcome by the Olympian heroes. It was sent by Artemis to cause destruction on the region of Calydonin Aetolia beacuse its king did not owner her.

It was killed in the Caltdoinian Hunt where many male heroes took place in, but Atlanta made first wound on the creatures and caused chaos on the hunt which resulted in many fatalities.

The Calydonian hunt is one such event in which all the Greek heroes came together and participated like the quest for the Golden Fleece and the Trojan War. This competition had all the famous Greek heroes like Theseus,Perseus but with the exception of Heracles.

The great Poets Homer and Hesoid knew about the myths they did not convert it into classic like the Odysseus. Stesichorus's telling are all that remain of the Greek collection of the story. The Roman poet Ovid described the story in a more colourful manner in his Metamorphoses.

The King Oeneus of Calydon held annual sacrifices to the gods. Once he forgot to make a sacrifice to Artemis, insulted she let loose the most ferocious boar in the land. It rampaged towns destroyed vineyars and crops and forced people to escape inside the city walls where they starved.

The King Oeneus offered the Boar's tusks and pelts as prizes.

Many came among those were some of the Argonauts, and Oeneus's own son Meleager and the famous sprinter and huntress Atalanta. Atalanta succeeded in wounding the boar with a arrow but lateron Meleager finished it. The pelts and tusks were kept inside a temple of Athena.

Artemis did got her revenge. Meleager offered the prize to Atalanta but his uncles and cousins said they have the right to have after Meleager. Meleager slew his cousins and offered it to Atalanta agian. His mother seeing her brother's children die killed him with a deadly brand.Then after many hunters turned on each other and the revenge was sweet for Artemis.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

The Harpy were winged death spirits. They are better known for stealing food from the Phineas. The literal meaning seems to be "that which grabs".

The Harpy could also bring life. It was mothered by the West Wind and Zephryos one of the horses of Achilles.

Though Hesoid describes them as beautiful -haired creatures, the came to be known winged creatures later on when the Siren a creature that was seductive in nature but later softened into a death angel.

Harpies were the sisters of Iris daughters ofEchidna nad TyphonKing Phineas of Thrace had the gift of a prophecy. Zeus angry that he reavealed too much decided to punish him by puttiing him in a island with lots of food that he could never eat because whenever he got the food the harpies would always steal it out of his hand.

This continued until the arrival of Jason and the Argonauts, the Boreads the sons of the north wind succeeded in driving of the harpies but did not kill any of them because their sisiter iris had promised that the harpies would never bother ever again. The harpies returned to Crete. Phineas thanked jason and the argonauts by telling them how to pass Symplegades.

The harpies then tortured people and were considered as agents of death as they made their way to tarturus. They were vicious and very cruel and they lived on Strophades. Harpies came to be seen as personification the deadly winds. They were considered as three Aello, Celeano and Ocypete.

Aeneas encountered the harpies on the Strophades as they stole food from the Trojans. Celeano cursed them saying that they would their tables before reaching the end of their journey. The Trojans fled in fear.

Harpies remianed in the middle ages as Dante in his Inferno XIII

"Here the repellent Harpies make their nests,

Who drove the Trojans from the Strophades With dire announcements of the coming woe. They have broad wings, a human neck and face,

Clawed feet and swollen, feathered bellies; they caw Their lamentations in the eerie trees."

Friday, July 11, 2008

This is a picture of Scylla attacking a group of sailors. Scylla is one of the two creatures that lurked on the side of a narrow strait. The strait was so narrow that the sailors passing the strait would end up in the clutches of one of the monsters.

There also a Exists a city called Scylla. It was situated on the entrance of of the Strait Of Messiana.

The Phrase 'between Scylla and Charybdis' is used when someone is in situation of two dangers and moving away from one will let u into the other danger.

The strait of Messiana has been reffered to the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and Italy. But Tim Severin opposes it saying that it may have been a strait in northwest Greece.

The Scylla had six long necks with heads that contain three rows of teeth. She also had twelve canine legs and a cat's tail. She has been referred to be a child of many parents: Phorcys, Hecate, Crateais , Lamia or Ceto. Some sources say she was the daughter of Triton and Lamia.

In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus was given advice by Circe to sail through Scylla's part of the strait rather through Charybdis's part, because she could drown the whole ship. Odysseus safely navigated through the strait but with the loss of six men, who were devoured by Scylla.

According to Ovid, Scylla was once a beautiful nymph who was was being loved by the sea-god Glaucus, but she didn't want his company and fled to a land where he would never reach. He went to Circe' for her advice. As he began telling his love story to her she became in love with him. Glaucus, of course, did not showed any interests. Circe, enraged poured a vile of poison were Scylla had her bath, as soon as she enetered the pool, she was changed into the sea monster. She tried to brush it all off, but in vian. She became enraged and destroyed anything that came near her. Scylla began to devour men from the ships that passed thorugh her part of the strait.

In later Greek mythology it is said that Heracles slew her during a journey to Sicily. Her father Phorcys restored her to life. But Circe did mention to odysseus that she could not by anyone, not even Heracles.

It is said that when time passed Scylla was turned into a dangerous rock which still stands today

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

This is a Manticore, a legendary creature with the body of a red lion, a human face with three rows of teeth and a trumpet type of voice. Other aspects include horns, dragon like tail, scorpion like tail or a tail with poisonous spines that can paralyze and kill its victims.

Manticore had its origin in Persia. Where it was called "man-eater", "martya" meaning man and "xwar" meaning to eat. The Greek translated it to Mantikhoras, then the Romans to Mantichora . In English they are Manticore.

The Greek Philosopher Ctesias, when he presented his notes in India to the Persian King.

Now, the natives of South-East Asia says that there's a Manticore living in amongst thick tall trees. It has ability to kill a person with a single scratch. When people go disappearing, the Manitcore is usually blamed.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

This is the Hippocampus is a sea- horse from Greek and Phoenician mythology. It is described as in this picture a sea-horse with two front legs and coiling long flippers.Th e Hippocampus is Poseidon's own horse and in Roman mythology(where Poseidon is Neptune) is pulled by the hippocampus on a chariot.

The hippocampus is often called hippocamp. The hippocamp was often decorated on Roman structures and baths. The Hippocampus was worshiped near the coast and also far inland. This is so because the Greek thought that the sea water was the origin of the springs not the rains. They thought that sea water oozed backwards through underground caverns and came out through the springs, filtered.